Bite blocks are used in a variety of transoral procedures and generally serve to hold the patient's mouth open and provide an access path for surgical instruments. Commercially available bite blocks are typically held in position externally via a retaining strap placed around the patient's head. They also typically include a raised lip on their inside edge, which is positioned behind the patient's teeth and serves to prevent the bite block from being pushed beyond the teeth.
In order to provide an instrument lumen with sufficient rigidity to resist compression by the patient biting down on the block, which could cause damage to the instruments passing through device, commercially available bite blocks are typically molded from hard plastic materials, such as a high density polyethylene. The inherent strength of these materials allows the instrument lumen to be defined by a relatively thin shell of material, e.g. a wall thickness of about 2 mm, while providing adequate protection against the block being compressed by a biting force. However, such hard plastics can be uncomfortable for the patient. Moreover the overall height of the raised lip on these thin walled bite blocks can sometime be inadequate to prevent expulsion of the bite block.
Furthermore, while conventional bite block designs providing a single instrument lumen have a variety of applications, they may not be ideal for all procedures. For example the characteristics of the surgical instruments and/or the nature of the patient may indicate a need to positively constrain not just the teeth, but other anatomical structures in and beyond the oral cavity, for example, the patient's tongue. As one example, it has been found that an unconstrained tongue in an obese patient's undergoing a transoral procedure, for example, a gastroplasty procedure as described in PCT/US2006/61665 filed Dec. 6, 2006 entitled SYSTEMS AND TECHNIQUES FOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE GASTROINTESTINAL PROCEDURES can sometimes result in airway constrictions or other complications.
Accordingly, there are needs for improvements in the art. In one form the present application provides improved bite block designs and methods of construction that address one or more of the needs outlined above.